With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.
The following is a Q & A with Kyle Lagunas of the Brandon Hall Group:
The Total Financial Impact of Employee Absences Survey, produced in collaboration with and commissioned by Kronos, Incorporated, was designed to measure both the direct and indirect costs of employee absences, including costs associated with payroll, replacement workers, overtime and productivity loss.
Over a couple month spurt this year - by way of a flurry of business travel, conference-going and reckless adventuring – I had the humbling opportunity to meet many smart people around the world all trying to wrap their heads around the dizzying demographical changes that impact today’s workforce.
“I’m on the board of directors of a temp staffing company with one billion dollars in revenues. I can see it happening across every sector of the economy. Everyone is getting fired. Everyone is toilet paper now.” – James Altucher
Are we witnessing the looming extinction of middle-class jobs?
Despite continuing efforts to rein in rising health care costs, roughly half of large U.S. employers will begin to hit the thresholds triggering the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) excise tax on high-value plans in 2018, and the percentage is expected to rise significantly in subsequent years, according to an analysis by consultancy Towers Watson.
Employers subject to California’s mandatory AB 1825 sexual harassment training requirement for supervisors will need to revise their programs to include prevention of “abusive conduct,” following an amendment (AB 2053) to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Fall-off in preventative visits, some screenings, indicate confusion over coverage
With a growing number of workers covered by health savings account (HSA)-eligible high-deductible health plans, how does the use of health care services by HSA participants compare with traditional health plans?
The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa is “a wake-up call” for HR professionals to take precautions with employees who travel to or are stationed in areas affected by the epidemic, says one medical expert.
by Elizabeth Gartner, Prem Kumar, and Ross Smith
Study the past, if you would divine the future. – Confucius
In Greek mythology, Apollo gave Cassandra the power of prophecy in an effort to win her heart, but when she refused him, he cursed her with the affliction of her predictions to never being believed. Cassandra made many important predictions, including the soldiers hiding in the Trojan horse, but went through life without anyone listening to her predictions.
On September 24, SHRM @weknownext chatted with Margaret Spence (@MargaretSpence) about "Domestic Violence and the Workplace."
On February 15, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punched his fiancée Janay Palmer in the face so hard that it knocked her out cold. It was recorded on a hotel surveillance video, and by now we’ve all seen it.
The NFL’s handling of the incident has prompted a torrent of questions and debate about how domestic violence should be handled by employers, regardless of size or prominence.
When is an employee’s personal life any business of the employer? Is it not, in fact private? The attention given in the last several weeks to a renowned NFL player has had me and so many others pondering these questions. So I try to quell my heart with an objective head. For me this requires a comparative review to lend some objectivity to these very emotional and compelling issues. I hail from Maryland and will use our local history here to provide some examples:
Organizations are asking employees to play an active role in their professional development. Employees are embracing the idea as a way to control their career. However, in order for employees to successfully manage their own development, it’s means that they need to regularly monitor their status towards their goals.
Rising costs and regulatory demands could fuel growth of private health exchanges
Private health insurance exchanges could funamentally alter how employers provide health care to their workers, according to a September 2014 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC’s) Health Research Institute, The Rise of Retail Health Coverage.
Previously designated low-hazard industries reclassified as nonexempt
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a final rule Sept. 11, 2014, revising the requirements for reporting work-related fatality, injury and illness information. The rule also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements.
September 19, 2014
On Sept. 10, 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (Assembly Bill 1522), making California the second state, after Connecticut, to implement paid sick leave state-wide. This law takes effect July 1, 2015, and implements a number of new Labor Code provisions (sections 245 et seq.).
California employers should begin learning about its very detailed requirements and compare it against similar but different ordinances already enacted in San Francisco and being considered in San Diego.
Fellow DE SHRM Chapter board member John McDowell and I met with Andrew Dinsmore, assistant to Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), and James Paoli, DE State Director, in Senator Coons’ Wilmington, Delaware, office last month.
When zombie apocalypse survivors extol their employer’s benefits, that company is worth a second look...
On September 17, SHRM @weknownext chatted with employment attorney Christine Walters @christinevbw about "Smoke of a Different Kind" in the workplace.
In case you missed it, here are all the great tweets from the chat:
Everyone is busy. Our inbox, calendars, to-do lists and screens run our lives. Everyone is working a second shift and we don’t take vacations. Life moves fast.
Large U.S. employers expect a 4 percent increase in 2015 health care costs for current employees after plan design changes and a 5.2 percent rate increase without plan adjustments, according to Towers Watson’s 2014 Health Care Changes Ahead Survey.
Female leaders deliver better financial results, studies show
Want your company to have a healthier bottom line?
Put a woman in charge.
A new survey published by HR consulting firm Development Dimensions International (DDI) and The Conference Board reveals that organizations with better financial performance have more women in leadership roles.
Those findings are backed by other research—and experiences on Wall Street.
She’ll Show ’Em the Money
September 16, 2014
Over the last year, our New Hampshire A-Team has been extremely active on both the federal and state level due to the tireless efforts of all of our A-Team Captains, Legislative Chairs and State Council. In fact, our HR State Council has truly embraced the need for advocacy and has continued the annual tradition of a New Hampshire Legislative Conference, which promotes the partnership with our NH Legislature by education and opportunities to connect with our state representatives.
Back in March, we chatted with employment attorney Christine Walters about Marijuana in the Workplace. This week we’ll be chatting about smoke of a different kind.
There are countless numbers of blogs and articles regarding culture. I’m absolutely in that mix because I feel that culture is the most critical factor of today’s workplace. The challenge I see though is that people continue to offer models of what will absolutely work for you. I think this is an incredible presumption !! I can’t come close to understanding what your company culture is or isn’t.
There are a few assumptions I can make that will be accurate:
During open enrollment, encourage use of benefits information resources
This open enrollment season, employees have a message for employers about their benefits: Tell us more, please.
SHRM Advocacy Team Spotlight – Congressional Recess Activity by Sandra Sockwell, Shoals Chapter SHRM
Move over Generation Y, Generation Z is set to take your place as the youngest generation in the workforce.
And if a new study is any indication, the latter have a stronger entrepreneurial spirit, are less motivated by money, are less entitled and will be better prepared for jobs than their Generation Y counterparts.
Whether the parties to an arbitration agreement agreed to class arbitration is a question for the arbitrator, not the trial court, the California Court of Appeal ruled, reversing an order dismissing class claims alleging violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Unfair Competition Act.
Background
Congratulations!
Your fitness-for-duty employee medical examinations are job-related or consistent with business necessity. So, they pass muster under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But, what about the medical information you request from employees in connection with those exams?
Oh yeah, there's that too...
Ask for too much info and you might be violating not only the ADA, but also the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.
Rut roh! More after the jump...
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This book has been Approved for Recertification Credit. After reading this approved book, you must complete a quiz on SHRM’s E-Learning platform. When you purchase this book from the SHRMStore, you will receive a code that you can use to cover the cost of the quiz. Receive a 70% or better score on the quiz and you will then receive a certificate of completion with the program ID that entitles you to 2.5 GENERAL credit hours. Use this Program ID to log your credits.
Online dialogue examines barriers to students and professionals.
Stereotypes, a lack of mentors and ignorance about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are among the challenges that people with disabilities face on the job, according to comments posted during an online dialogue hosted by a federal office and an advocacy group.
I recently read The Evolving Workplace: Expert Insights, part of a global project commissioned by Dell and Intel. For the study, TNS Global is exploring key future trends and themes pertaining to the workplace and workforce, with a specific focus on understanding the role that technology has played in its evolution
More implementing integrated, cloud-based talent and HR systems.
It’s not news that spending on HR technology is on the rise, as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported last month, but according to a new report, software-as-a-service (SAAS) companies are seeing their largest revenue gains since 2008.
Home Depot’s compromised payment systems could turn out to be the biggest data breach of its kind, with as many as 60 million credit cards affected, according to experts. That would be far more than the 40 million cardholders impacted by the breach at Target stores in 2013. The company confirmed the breach Sept. 8, 2014.
Stress is not just a first-world problem—it’s a global issue. In fact, the leading health issue driving wellness strategies globally is stress, according to a new survey of over 1,000 respondents across 37 countries conducted by global HR benefits consulting firm Buck Consultants.
What is it that engages people in their work? It certainly isn't something that can be packaged or sold.
Some people see their job for what it is worth and are driven to make as much money as possible. Some people want to use their profession as a social network. There are people who live to create extraordinary products and those for whom a pay check will validate a higher personal purpose.
Recent spate of mass layoffs hasn’t eased tight competition for industry talent.
Some observers might use the word “tumultuous” to describe the state of staffing in the IT sector, which is still reeling from announcements at Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard of impending downsizings.
In July the sector recorded a 49 percent increase in job cuts from June, making July’s layoff total the second highest of the year, according to a report released July 31, 2014, by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
The other day I was reading some data (be still my heart!) and ran across something that didn’t initially surprise me. However, the more I think about it the more I am puzzled that this is still an ongoing issue. I reported on some other data a while back that ties in pretty closely with this topic.
Sometimes you have to stop and wonder where common sense has gone. Companies are expecting more from their HR team than ever before, but according to data gathered by XpertHR, companies are increasing the number of employees relative to the number of HR professionals.
Multinational companies seeking to drive higher revenues and seize a sustainable competitive advantage are investing enormous resources into new and emerging markets. But the competition is not just for the wallets of the rising ranks of middle-class consumers—it’s also for the highly skilled workers and professionals who will form the backbone of a sustainable local workforce in those nations.
I can’t help but feel for the ones who are struggling.
Labor Day is a bittersweet day for me this year. First, it happens to fall on my birthday. Nice of the government to declare my birthday a national holiday! Second, it is a day purposed to celebrate the American worker.
Yet because job seekers have my heart right now, I’m having a hard time celebrating.
What’s the one thing human resource information system (HRIS) managers hope to accomplish when deciding whether or not to invest in new HR technology?
Improve user experience, according to a study from Information Services Group (ISG), a technology insights, market intelligence and advisory services company.
ISG reports that other benefits of new technology HRIS managers hope to attain include “access to innovation and best practices, speed to implementation, and cost savings,” the analysis found.
Quick shot for a Tuesday that feels like a Monday and also feels like a Wednesday since it seems like I am already two and half days behind.
Just before the long Labor Day weekend Gallup released some figures from its 2014 Work and Education poll that showed Americans that are employed full-time are, on average, putting in about 47 hours per week on the job, almost a full working day longer than what has been the 'standard' 40 work week.
Staffing experts familiar with Microsoft’s plan to lay off up to 18,000 employees generally agree on one thing: The reduction in force is necessary to make the company more agile and reduce duplication created by the acquisition of phone manufacturer Nokia.
But some experts take issue with the time frame set out by the Redmond, Wash.-based software behemoth: Microsoft will take up to one year to implement the layoffs, leaving many workers in extended professional and emotional limbo.
It came, it went, and few Americans probably even noticed.
“It” was National Workaholics Day—yes, a holiday of sorts, memorialized every July 5.
Is it celebrated? Not really. It’s more of a sober reminder that workaholism, like any addiction, can jeopardize health, home lives and—eventually—productivity and a company’s bottom line.
When many of us in the HR world think of Labor Day, we now think of the NLRB. For most of us, I would not say the visceral thoughts are warm and with admiration.
So, for Labor Day, let’s not think of the National Labor Relations Board. Let’s think of its purpose.
Labor Day has its origins in the labor movement. In 1894, Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a federal holiday after a failed attempt to break up a railroad strike. However, its purpose, I believe, is to pay tribute to the contributions and accomplishments of all American workers.
